Will the floor pan last another 300 kilometers?

Date:
28.07.2016

Day: 397

Country:
Vietnam

Province:
Sơn La

Location:
Thuan Chau

Latitude N:
21°26’15.0”

Longitude E:
103°41’10.3”

Daily kilometers:
55 km

Total kilometers:
17,922 km

As the crow flies:
32 km

Average speed:
19 km/h

Maximum speed:
46.6 km/h

Travel time:
3:00 hrs.

Soil condition:
Asphalt

Maximum height:
1.500 m

Total altitude meters:
52.442 m

Altitude meters for the day:
1.079 m

Sunrise:
05:36

Sunset:
6:46 pm

Temperature day max:
26°C

Temperature day min:
20°C

Departure:
8:30 a.m.

Arrival time:
2:00 pm

(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).

LINK TO THE ITINERARY






As soon as we leave the village, the pass road climbs from 600 meters to 1,500 meters in cloudy heights. Tanja’s engine overheats due to the high temperatures, the heavy load and the steep incline. We take a break and cool him down with water from a nearby stream. The brakes overheat on the following descent. The brake fluid is literally boiling. As in the endless mountains of China, we cool the braking system with a few splashes of water from our water bottles. Then I replace Tanja’s brake pads and the journey continues, on and on over the mountains, through valleys, along the endless rice terraces, through potholes and over gravel roads. Clack, clack, clack. “What’s that noise?” Tanja’s question flies forward to me. “I have no idea. I’ve been hearing that for days. But it’s getting worse,” I reply. “Could something break?” “How should I know?” “We should stop and have a look,” Tanja suggests, which is why we pull the brakes and come to a halt on the dirt shoulder covered in buffalo patties. “For the life of me, I can’t see anything,” I say grumpily, because my gut feeling and the experiences of the last 13 months are screaming at me that something unpleasant is brewing. “Just be careful when you ride down the mountain roads,” Tanja warns me as I get back into the saddle. Clack, clack, clack, crack and creak, it becomes more and more unpleasant. While still in Sa Pa, I screwed a new and very sturdy drawbar bracket from another manufacturer onto Ajaci’s trailer, as the old one had already broken twice by then. It’s only since then that we’ve been hearing the increasingly loud clicking noise, especially when I drive over bumps and through potholes. We stop again to look for the cause of the noise. “And?” asks Tanja. “I just can’t find anything,” I reply. “We don’t want to tear the floor pan of the trailer,” Tanja ponders, “Then I would discover cracks. But there are no cracks. Not even a hairline crack. No, that’s not going to happen,” I say confidently.

After 55 kilometers we reach the village of Thuan Chau. Although we are well below our daily mileage average, we are totally exhausted by the tropical heat, the many rain showers, the more than 1,000 meters of altitude, the fear of the possible consequences of the engine overheating, the overheating of the brakes, the stops and cooling down of the brake system before the braking power diminishes, the replacement of the brake pads and the inspection breaks because of the noises on the dog trailer.

We find a room for the night in a brand new standard hotel. As I unloaded my bike, the agreed price suddenly increased from 250,000 dong (€10) to 300,000 dong (€12). “Then we’ll go on,” says Tanja to the owner standing behind his counter. “Okay, 250,000 dong,” he tells Tanja. While I take care of unloading and stowing the bikes, Tanja carries the equipment to the second floor. None of those present help her. This is unusual for the Vietnamese, as the people and staff at guesthouses, homestays and hotels are generally extremely helpful. “Shall I help you?” I ask Tanja. “No, no, I’ll do it,” she replies, panting loudly with exertion. Then I examine the drawbar bracket of our dog trailer again and can actually reproduce the cracking sound. “It’s the outer wall of the aluminum tub. Because the new drawbar suspension is no longer mounted on the frame, but on the outer wall of the floor pan, it moves back and forth due to the load. This causes the cracking noise,” I explain to Tanja later. “So, are there any negative consequences?” “I’m sure that your original concern that the tub might crack will come true in a few days. If aluminum is constantly bent back and forth, it will break sooner or later,” I explain. “Do you have any idea how you can fix it?” “Hm, I hope we can still make it to Mai Chau. We’ll be staying there for at least 10 days before we set off for the Laotian border. In that time, I need to find a workshop that can make me a strong counter plate and has the necessary tools. If I attach such a plate to the inside of the floor pan, the problem should be solved,” I explain. “And you think the tub will last the 300 kilometers to Mai Chau?” “I hope so, because if not, we’ll break down somewhere along the way.”

After I’ve fed the short notes, log data and pictures of the day into the computer, we leave our room and find a very simple restaurant on the opposite side of the street. We are the only guests at this time. “Can we get something to eat?” we ask the landlady, who greets us with a shy smile. “Có” (yes), she replies, delighted with the late guests. Because of the communication difficulties, I follow her into the kitchen, which is located behind the dining room in the open air. I point to the noodles, eggs and vegetables and ask if she can make a soup out of them. “But without flavor enhancers,” I ask. “Only when I repeat the Vietnamese word for flavor enhancer a few times and always pronounce it differently does she understand. Since the Vietnamese almost always cook with this horrible stuff and I react to it with bad stomach upsets, headaches and exhaustion, it’s not easy for us to get glutamate-free food. Today, however, it works without any problems, which is why we enjoy our delicious soup…

If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.

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